Our neighbors down the street have serviceberry trees and have kindly let me pick the berries since I was a little kid. Although I used to eat them all right off the trees, I now have enough self control to bring some berries home to experiment with in the kitchen and share with my family. In case you aren’t familiar with them, serviceberries are the size of wild blueberries, dark purple in color, and have a taste that combines those of blueberries, blackberries, and melon, accompanied by a suggestion of almond extract from the seeds. I originally developed this crisp recipe using almonds in the crumble topping to compliment the unique serviceberry flavor, but have since found that blueberries are also delicious if you don’t have access to serviceberries. Or you can combine them!

Prep time: 20 min. Cook time: 20-25 min. Makes 8 generous servings.

Filling Ingredients:

5 cups blueberries or serviceberries

½ cup water (omit if using frozen berries)

2½ tablespoons cornstarch

¼ cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoons nutmeg

Almond-Oat Crumble Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats 

½ cup all purpose or oat flour (use oat to make GF)

½ teaspoons cinnamon

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup chopped almonds

¼ teaspoons salt (use a little more if using unsalted almonds)

¼ cup cold water

2 tablespoons refined coconut oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Combine all filling ingredients in a pot over low heat, stirring every so often until it starts to bubble. You may turn it up to medium-low if necessary.
2. Meanwhile, make the almond oat crumble by combining the oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, brown sugar, and almonds in a bowl. 
3. Chop the water, coconut oil, and vanilla into the oat mixture with a butter knife.
4. Pour the berry mixture into a 10×10-inch pan, spread the oat mixture on top, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crumble is golden brown and crunchy. 
5. Serve with coconut whipped cream, vanilla coconut ice cream, or simply let it shine on its own.